The Shadow Walker, by Michael Walters ($7.99)(c2006)

This is a practically perfect first novel. It has an interesting setting (Mongolia), an enigmatic and intelligent hero (the single-named Nergui); and an intriguing, albeit gruesome, mystery.

Mongolia's population is partly nomadic. It is the second largest land-locked country, but one of the least densely populated. The Gobi Desert, the windswept steppes, and the harsh weather make it difficult for the country to sustain itself and its people. However, it does have considerable mineral resources, and Mongolia must enter into a devil's pact with other countries to mine these resources in order to survive. Now let's drop a mystery into this setting.

Nergui was once Head of the Serious Crimes Team of the Ulan Baatar police department. His competence and incorruptibility forced him out of that job and into a position with "The Ministry," a secretive security and intelligence organization. Although he has acquired more prestige, Nergui's head and heart are still with Serious Crimes. Nergui has the excuse he needs to become involved with the police again when a disturbing headless and handless corpse is discovered. Soon bodies are dropping like wingless flies, and one of them is a Brit.

Drew Macleish is sent from the UK, more in a pro forma capacity than in an investigative one, he thinks, to assist Nergui and Doripalam, the young man who took over Nergui's position with Serious Crimes. We see a lot of the events through Macleish's innocent eyes. He also provides the vehicle through which Nergui explains the culture and political workings of his country.

Together Nergui, Doripalam, and Macleish investigate the bizarre crimes, scouring the scenes for clues, and coming up empty-handed. When some of the corpses can't even be identified, it is hard to locate the killer or the motive. Then a police officer becomes a victim. In tracing his itinerary, the three men find a trail to a resort in the Gobi Desert. Apparently Mongolians like to escape to the Gobi to rest and relax, its vast emptiness soothing to them. Now foreign tourists also have discovered the attraction. Perhaps a killer, too, can be found in the unusual mix.

What I liked best about Michael Walters' writing is that he put in the human details that authors so often fail to include in their stories. It's these details that give us a sense that the characters could be real people. Even though it doesn't advance the story, people huff and puff as they walk the icy streets, they have to pee, their cups of coffee don't magically appear. But these details are not distracting or so numerous that they overwhelm the pacing of the story.

Although The Shadow Walker has the pacing of a thriller, Michael Walters makes it a story about people first and a howdunnit second. Nergui is accessible but mysterious at the same time. Macleish is humble and very real.

The ending aside (semi-spoiler issues listed below), I thought this was a wonderful and entertaining book.

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This story is almost perfect. I have no quibble with the ending per se, but my dissatisfaction has to do with two of the characters who have a role in the resolution. One is a caricature, and Walters assiduously avoided the caricature throughout the preceding 99% of the story, so it was jarring. The other is the deus ex machina thumper of a rescue. That, too, was jarring because Walters did a great job explaining everything else. I know we're just supposed to say, "Oh, of course, that's really cool and mysterious, how James Bond-ish, that's what comes from having politically strange bedfellows." But Walters changed the rules in midstream and, as with horses, one can't really do that. Nevertheless, big stamp of approval!